It’s a matter of fairness: Students’ grades should accurately reflect what students know and are
able to do. Inconsistencies across schools, classrooms and departments can lead to inequities for students.
T 30 Leadership
he research on grading practice over two decades is clear: grad- ing practices are firmly held beliefs that are near and dear to
the teaching professional. You will not likely find a more emotional topic than classroom grading policy in the secondary school fac- ulty meeting, and neither scholarship nor common sense have inf luenced teacher opinion or grading policies in many schools. At a time when government, business
and industry and the general public are call- ing for an accountability of student knowl- edge and abilities, classroom assessment practices could be significantly undermin- ing the multiple efforts of schools across the country. In short, grades don’t seem to accurately account for what students know and are able to do, and the inconsistency across schools, classrooms and even within one academic department can lead to gross inequities for students. While teachers have little control over the state-mandated tests they must admin-
ister, they do have control over many day- to-day measures, including how classroom assessment is implemented, and their own grade books and what is recorded in them. Often times, as Douglas Reeves reminds us, the difference between failure and the honor roll depends on the grading policies of the teacher (Reeves, 2008).
What the research shows Marzano (2000) and Guskey and Bailey
(2001) have synthesized decades of research and summarize that grading practices vary greatly among teachers even in the same school, and practices supported by research are rarely in evidence. This summary in- cludes: • Grades often consists of a medley of at-
titude, effort and achievement. • Teachers vary considerably in their grading practice and in their consideration
By Conni Campbell
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